Tseng Wen-chin (曾文欽), who murdered a 10-year-old boy and allegedly said he killed him because he wanted to be imprisoned, was handed a life sentence by the Tainan District Court yesterday.
The boy, surnamed Fang (方), was found dead with his throat cut at a children’s recreation center in Greater Tainan in December last year.
The police tracked down Tseng, who was quoted as saying at the time of his arrest that he killed the boy so he could be sent to prison, and that he had planned to kill more people had he not been arrested. Tseng had also expressed confidence at the time that he would not receive the death sentence for the murder.
The case can be appealed to the Taiwan High Court.
Fang’s aunt, Fang Pei-chi (方珮綺), was upset by the ruling and suffered an emotional breakdown after she stepped out of the courtroom, shouting: “The judicial system is dead” as she held up a picture of her 10-year-old nephew.
“Tseng said following his arrest that he murdered the boy because he had been unemployed for some time and wanted to get free meals in prison, adding that people could commit one or two murders these days without being sentenced to death. He even claimed to have a mental disorder to try to justify his actions,” Fang Pei-chi said.
“However, the court has given him exactly what he wanted by sentencing him to life imprisonment,” she said, adding that she would definitely appeal the case to a higher court and seek justice for her nephew.
Several members of the Taiwan Children’s Rights Association who attended the court hearing also voiced strong indignation at the ruling.
“The verdict makes me wonder whether Tseng or Taiwan’s judicial system is the sick one here,” the association’s chief executive officer Lee Yi-ju (李憶如) said.
Citing a psychiatric analysis of Tseng, Tainan District Court spokesman Lee Hang-lun (李杭倫) said Tseng was diagnosed with minor depression and generalized anxiety disorder, had a below-average IQ and was susceptible to abnormal ways of thinking because of his isolated lifestyle.
“The judge gave the ruling on the grounds that Tseng has not completely lost his humanity and can still be rehabilitated,” Lee Hang-lun said.
When approached by reporters outside the courthouse, Tseng’s father declined to make any comment.
Additional reporting by Rich Chang
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS